October 21, 2011

That and he's in town for the Wisconsin Book Festival with a book to promote.

After Carlos finished speaking to the group huddled together by the Occupy Madison camp in Veterans Park, listeners purchased the new book he co-wrote with sportswriter Dave Zirin, titled The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World.

John Pope waited in a short line for Carlos to autograph his copy. "[Carlos] was at the top of his athletic prowess and instead of coming home as a hero, he came home as someone who was despised by a lot of people because he took a real serious stand against a lot of issues," he said.

And that's what it's all about, kids: taking a real serious stand against a lot of issues. And moving merchandise.

37 comments:

I still despise him. At the time I harbored, in my adolescent naivete, a belief that the Olympics should be free of politics. Wasn't Hitler wrong in 1936? Now I just believe that the Olympics should be abandoned.

He's signaling black power in that picture? I always thought it was a high-speed picture taken in mid-javelin throw. The black power thing explains all the people around him, though, and I admit that's always bugged me about that picture.

Tyrone Slothrop said... I still despise him. At the time I harbored, in my adolescent naivete, a belief that the Olympics should be free of politics.

You beat me to it.

Many Americans were proud when a Jesse Owens, an American, stood on the Gold Medal Platform in 36. We were pissed when Smith and Carlos stood on the platforms in 68, demonstrated that they were "Black" Americans, unlike Jesse.

A little more than grandiose. I've brought up Carlos at work before, becasue I saw him run in the 1969 NCAA championships, and no one uder 45 knows who he is. I always think of Springsteen's Glory Days when I come across someone trying to live off of far past athletic accomplishments.

Despised? I suppose by some, but I remember being puzzled. Just what was black power to him? Why do something so ambiguous that interpretation was a mirror of the observer, not a reflection of the act? And why was his head down? He did not look proud and powerful. He looked like he was trying to hide in plain sight.

It's kind of sad, actually. It hurt Mr. Carlos. Has it ever occurred to him that he was used? Or did this moment so define his life that he could not question anything about it?

I have these vague memories of the Mexico City Olympics: Hundreds of Mexican demonstrators were killed, and news of their murders was suppressed. Some guy broke the broad jump record by a huge distance. I also remember that Black Power salute, but I didn't know until just now that it changed the world.

Your emotional state is way too fragile and your lack of insight way to great.

Just the opposite. I don't care personally if people raised their fist for a political purpose 4 decades ago. Why would you? Are you opposed to civil rights or something?

And if you think the Olympics is supposed to be apolitical then why not tell the Olympic committee to not play any national anthems for the winners. In fact, why not eliminate gold silver and bronze all together? The Olympics is completely political. And all the better for it.

Or, more to the point, it is the way politics is supposed to be. I.e. "I stand up for what I believe in and you stand up for what you believe in and we don't kill each other." Note the [white] Canadian who received the Silver medal helped Tommy Smith and John Carlos with their plan. That's what I'm talking about.

“The Black Power movement was comprised of people who thought Martin Luther King had the wrong idea.”

Very true but the children of today only know what they have been taught. They were not “there” so they do not understand what it was like at the time. They have no context through which they can understand the meaning of the act.

I was an adult at the time and remember the furor that it caused. Life goes on and people wander as if they are blind. History in our country is filtered through the liberal lens of the past. Witness the glorification of a perverted man and murderer known as Che. He’s dead but he live in T-shirts and bags.

Actually the ideology of the Black Power movement was not all homogenized. It wasn’t like everyone had one agenda and that was to pay back the white race. However, regardless of the methods some may have espoused, they [and King] were all in favor of equality and civil rights. [And besides if you were black and spit upon for a good portion of your life circa the South in the 1950’s I am sure you would have some angry thoughts. Most humans would.]

And note that once they got back home they were subjected to abuse and they and their families received death threats. I would like to think not everyone opposed to their raised fists wanted them dead. Similarly we should not assume that Carlos and Smith wanted violent methods to achieve equality. The raised fists is a cultural moment and a pretty innocuous one at that.

Actually the ideology of the Black Power movement was not all homogenized.

I didn't say it was. But just because something isn't homogenous doesn't mean it has no common traits -- e.g., there are all manner of Christians, but every last one shares certain beliefs about God and Jesus.

The Black Power movement was solidly against King's message of racial harmony and his focus on earning the acceptance of the white majority. It was a racialist (and, quite frankly, racist) movement that focused on strengthening black Americans as a race.

The Black Power movement was a dismal failure. The civil rights movement succeeded in spite of it, and in no way because of it; the damage it did remains, e.g. in the association of academic achievement and middle-class values with "acting white" among poor blacks.

However, regardless of the methods some may have espoused, they [and King] were all in favor of equality and civil rights

Untrue. There were plenty of people within the Black Power movement, e.g. some of the nastier Nation of Islam and Black Panther types, who preached doctrines of black racial supremacy.

And besides if you were black and spit upon for a good portion of your life circa the South in the 1950’s I am sure you would have some angry thoughts.